英语经典美文阅读翻译
美文,不禁浮现出一个美丽的情境,赋予优美的语境和丰富的情感。下面是学习啦小编带来的英语经典美文，欢迎阅读!
英语经典美文精选
Just for Today
就为了今天
Just for today I will try to live through this day only and not solve my whole life problem at once. I can do something for twelve hours that would appall me if I had to keep it up for a lifetime.
就为了今天，我将尽力只度过今天而不立刻去解决终身的问题。对一件令我沮丧而又必须坚持一辈子的事，我只能坚持十二个小时。
Just for today I will be happy. This assumes to be true what Abraham Lincoln said，that "Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be."
就为了今天，我会很快乐。亚伯拉罕-林肯说过，“大多数人都是决定想怎么高兴就怎么高兴。”这已经被认为是真理。
Just for today I will adjust myself to what is, and not try to adjust everything to my own desires. I will take my "luck" as it comes.
就为了今天，我会做自我调整适应事物本来的面目，而不是想方设法使每一件事满足自己的欲望。当机会来临的时候我会抓住它。
Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind. I will study. I will learn something useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will read something that requires effort, thought and concentration.
就为了今天，我会尽力心强志坚。我会学习，学一些有用的东西。我不会做一个精神上的流浪汉。我会读一些需要努力、思考和注意力集中的东西。
Just for today I will exercise my soul in three ways. I will do somebody a good turn and not get found out: If anybody knows of it, it will not count. I will do at least two things I don't want to do—just for exercise. I will not show anyone that my feelings are hurt: they may be hurt, but today I will not show it.
就为了今天，我会用三种方法来磨炼我的灵魂。我会做对某人有利的事但不能被发现，若有人发现了就不算数。我将会做至少两件我不愿做的事情——只为了磨练。我不会让任何人感到我的感情受到了伤害：它们可能受到了伤害，但今天我不想表现出来。
Just for today I will be agreeable. I will look as well as I can, dress becomingly, talk low, act courteously, criticize not one bit，and try not to improve or regulate anybody but myself.
就为了今天，我会过得很惬意。看起来我达到了最佳状态，穿着得体、讲话谦虚、行为礼貌、一点不吹毛求疵，尽量改进和调节自己而不是别人。
Just for today I will have a program, I may not follow it exactly, but I will have it. I will save myself from two pests: hurry and indecision.
就为了今天，我会制定一个计划，我也许不会严格地遵守它，但我一定要有计划。我会避免两种错误：仓促行事和优柔寡断。
Just for today I will have a quiet half hour all by myself and relax. During this half hour, sometime, I will try to get a better perspective of my life.
就为了今天，我将会独自静静地呆上半小时放松。在这半小时里，某个时刻，我会日后对我的生活有个更好的看法。
Just for today I will be unafraid. Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful，and to believe that as I give to the world, so the world will give to me.
就为了今天，我将不再害怕。尤其我不会再害怕享受美丽的事物，并且相信我给予世界的，世界也会给予我。
英语经典美文阅读
Keep Your Goals in Sight
锁定目标
When she looked ahead, Florence Chadwick saw nothing but a solid wall of fog. Her body was numb. She had been swimming for nearly sixteen hours.Already she was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. Now, at age 34, her goal was to become the first woman to swim from Catalina Island to the California coast.
佛罗伦斯·查德威克向前方望去，除了绵延无尽的大雾，她什么也看不到。她一直在游泳，已经游了几乎16个小时，身体都麻木了。在那之前，她已经是第一位从两个方向游过英吉利海峡的女子。现在，她已34岁，她的目标是要成为第一个从卡达琳纳岛游到加利福尼亚海岸的女子。
On that Fourth of July morning in 1952, the sea was like an ice bath and the fog was so dense she could hardly see her support boats. Sharks cruised toward her lone figure, only to be driven away by rifle shots. Against the frigid grip of the sea, she struggled on—hour after hour— while millions watched on national television.
1952年7月4日的那个早晨，大海就像一个冰浴盆，雾是那么浓，她甚至连救援她的船只都看不到。鲨鱼游向她孤单的身躯，只能靠来复枪来击退。她迎向冰冷的海水，努力向前游，就这样一小时一小时过去了;无数观众则坐在电视机前观看这一情景。
Alongside Florence in one of the boats, her mother and her trainer offered encouragement. They told her it wasn’t much farther. But all she could see was fog. They urged her not to quit. She never had . . . until then. With only a half mile to go, she asked to be pulled out.
在佛罗伦斯旁边的一艘船里，她母亲和她的教练不断地鼓励她。他们告诉她离海岸已经不远了，然而除雾以外，她却什么也看不到。他们激励她不要放弃，事实上，她一直在坚持，然而在距离目的地只有半英里的时候，她却要求，将她拖出水面。
Still thawing her chilled body several hours later, she told a reporter, "Look, I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen land I might have made it." It was not fatigue or even the cold water that defeated her. It was the fog. She was unable to see her goal.
几个小时后，她一边暖着身体，一边对着记者说：“怎么说呢，我不是为自己找借口，但如果我能看见陆地的话，我会成功的。”瞧，在这次游泳中，击败她的不是劳累和冰冷的海水，而是雾。因为有雾，她根本看不到自己的目标。
Two months later, she tried again. This time, despite the same dense fog, she swam with her faith intact and her goal clearly pictured in her mind. She knew that somewhere behind that fog was land and this time she made it! Florence Chadwick became the first woman to swim the Catalina Channel, eclipsing the men’s record by two hours!
两个月后，她又试着游了一次。这一次，尽管雾还是那样浓，但她始终带着必胜的信念，头脑中始终有一个清楚的目标，她知道雾后面的某个地方就是陆地，这一次她成功了!佛罗伦斯·查德威克最终成为第一个游过卡达琳纳海峡的女子，并且以快两个小时的速度打破了男子游过该海峡的记录，这让男子记录黯然失色。
英语经典美文学习
More Than One Way to the Square
通往广场的路不止一条
We were standing at the top of a church tower. My father had brought me to this spot in a small Italian town not far from our home in Rome. I wondered why.“Look down, Elsa,” Father said. I gathered all my courage and looked down. I saw the square in the center of the village. And I saw the crisscross of twisting, turning streets leading to the square.
当时我们正站在一个教堂塔楼的顶上，是父亲把我从罗马的家里带到这个离家不远的意大利小镇楼顶上来的，我不明白他要做什么。“向下看，埃尔莎，”父亲对我说。我鼓足勇气向下看去，看到了村子中央的广场，还看到蜿蜒曲折的街道交错着通向这个广场。
“See, my dear,” Father said gently. “There is more than one way to the square. Life is like that. If you can't get to the place where you want to go by one road, try another.”
爸爸语气温和地对我说：“明白了吧，亲爱的，通向广场的路不止一条，生活也是如此，如果一条路走不到想去的地方，就试着走另一条路。”
Now I understood why I was there. Earlier that day I had begged my mother to do something about the awful lunches that were served at school. But she refused because she could not believe the lunches were as bad as I said.
现在我明白我为什么会到这儿来了。那天早些时候我请求妈妈为学校提供的难吃午餐想点儿办法，但她拒绝了我的要求，她不相信学校的午餐会像我说的那样糟。
When I turned to Father for help, he would not interfere. Instead, he brought me to this high tower to give me a lesson. By the time we reached home, I had a plan.
我转向爸爸求援，他不想干预此事，却把我带到这个高塔上，给我上了一课。到家时，我已经有了主意。
At school the next day, I secretly poured my luncheon soup into a bottle and brought it home. Then I talked the cook into serving it to Mother at dinner. The plan worked perfectly. She swallowed one spoonful and sputtered, “The cook must have gone mad!” Quickly I told what I had done, and Mother stated firmly that she would take up the matter of lunches at school the next day!
第二天在学校吃午餐时，我偷偷地把我的那份午餐汤倒进一个瓶子，把它带回了家，然后说服厨师，让她在晚餐时把汤端给妈妈。我的计划进行得很成功。妈妈喝了一勺汤，就吐了出来，说：“厨师一定发疯了!”我马上告诉妈妈这是我安排的，妈妈斩钉截铁地表示她第二天就去学校就午餐问题提出交涉。
In the years that followed I often remembered the lesson Father taught me. I knew where I wanted to go in life. I wanted to be a fashion designer. And on the way to my first small success I found the road blocked. What could I do? Accept the roadblocks and fail?Or use imagination and wits to find another road to my goal?
随后的这些年里，我时常记起爸爸给我上的这一课。我知道我的人生目标：我想当时装设计师!就在我走向第一个小小的成功之路时，却遇到了阻碍。怎么办呢?是承认此路不通，败下阵来;还是发挥想像力和智慧，去寻找通向目标的另一条道路呢?
I had come to Paris, the center of the world of fashion, with my sketches6. But none of the famous fashion designers seemed interested in buying them. Then one day I met a friend who was wearing a very beautiful sweater. It was plain in color, but it had a lovely and unusual stitch.
我带着我的设计草图来到世界时装中心巴黎，但是好像没有一个著名的时装设计师有兴趣购买。后来有一天，我遇到一位朋友，她穿着一件非常好看的毛线衫，毛线衫的色彩平淡，但是针法却可爱、别致。
“Did you knit that sweater?” I asked her.
我问她：“毛线衫是你织的吗?”
“No,” she answered. “It was done by a woman here in Paris.”
她回答：“不，是巴黎的一位妇女织的。”
“What an interesting stitch!” I continued.
“针法真棒!”我又说。
My friend had an explanation. “The woman her name is Mrs. Vidian—told me she learned the stitch in Armenia, her native country.”
朋友解释说：“这位妇女叫维迪安太太，她跟我说她是在她出生地亚美尼亚学的这种织法。”
Suddenly I pictured a daring design knitted into such a sweater. Then an even more daring idea came to me. Why not open my own house of fashion? Why not design, make and sell clothes from the house of Schiaparelli! I would do it, and I would begin with a sweater.
突然，我想在这件毛线衫上织出一个大胆的图案，继而一个更为大胆的设想闪现在我的脑海里。为什么不开办自己的时装店呢?为什么不设计、制作和销售斯基亚帕雷利时装店的服装呢?我要这样做，而且要从毛线衫开始。
I drew a bold black and white butterfly pattern and took it to Mrs. Vidian. She knitted it into a sweater. The result, I thought, was wonderful. Then came the test. I wore the sweater to a luncheon which people in the fashion business would attend. To my great pleasure, the sweater was noticed. In fact, the representative of a large New York store wanted 40 sweaters to be ready in two weeks. I accepted the order and walked out on a cloud of happiness.
我画了一个醒目的黑白相间的蝴蝶图案，把它交给维迪安太太，她把这个图案织到了一件毛线衫上。我认为这件成品很漂亮，接着就是对它的检验。我穿上毛线衫，来到一个时装界人士参加的午餐会，令我十分高兴的是，毛线衫引起了众人的注意。事实上，纽约一家大商店的代理商想在两周内得到40件这样的毛线衫。我接受了他的订货，兴高采烈地走出了餐厅。
My cloud disappeared suddenly, however, when I stood in front of Mrs. Vidian. “But it took me almost a week to knit that one sweater,” she said. “Forty sweaters in two weeks? It is not possible!”
然而当我站在维迪安太太面前时，喜悦之情就一扫而光了。她说：“我几乎用一周才织完这样一件毛线衫，两周织40件是不可能的!”
I was crushed to be so close to success and then to be blocked! Sadly I walked away. All at once I stopped short. There must be another way. This stitch did take special skill. But surely there must be other Armenian women in Paris who knew how to do it.
我非常失望，离成功仅有半步之遥，竟又被迎头堵住了!我悲伤地走出维迪安太太的家，突然停下了脚步，一定有别的办法可以办到。这种针法确实需要特殊的技巧，然而在巴黎一定还有其他亚美尼亚妇女会这种针法。
I went back to Mrs. Vidian and explained my plan. She really didn't think it would work, but she agreed to help.
我回到维迪安太太的家，向她讲述了我的计划。她真的认为这个计划行不通，但同意帮我的忙。
We were like detectives, Mrs. Vidian and I. We put ourselves on the trail11 of any Armenians who lived in Paris. One friend led us to another. At last we tracked down women, each of whom could knit the special stitch. Two weeks later the sweaters were finished. And the first shipment from the new house of Schiaparelli was on its way to the United States!
我和维迪安太太像侦探似地开始行动，我们追踪任何一位住在巴黎的亚美尼亚人。一个朋友把我们介绍给另一个朋友，就这样我们终于找到了20名亚美尼亚妇女，她们个个都会这种特殊的针法。两星期后，毛线衫都织好了，新开张的斯基亚帕雷利时装店第一批货物被发往美国!
From that day a steady stream of clothes and perfumes12 flowed from the house of Schiaparelli. I found the world of fashion gay13 and exciting, full of challenge and adventure. I shall never forget one showing which was really a challenge. Once again Father's advice helped me. I was busy getting ready to show my winter fashions. Then just 13 days before the presentation the sewing girls were called out on strike. I found myself left with one tailor and woman who was in charge of the sewing room! I was as gloomy14 as my models and salesgirls. “We'll never make it,”one of them cried.
从那天开始，一批批时装和香水源源不断地从新开张的时装店售出。我发现时装业充满竞争和冒险，令人愉快和兴奋。我永生难忘那一次真正充满挑战的服装展览，是爸爸的那条忠告再次帮助了我。我正忙着准备展览冬季时装，就在时装表演开始前13天，缝纫女工们被叫去参加罢工，我发现只剩下我自己、一个裁缝和一个缝纫车间的女主管!我像我的模特和女售货员一样沮丧，有一个女售货员哭道：“我们绝对赶不上了!”
Here, I thought, is the test of all tests for Father's advice. Where is the way out this time? I wondered and worried. I was certain we would have to call off the presentation or else show the clothes unfinished. Then it dawned on15 me. Why not show the clothes unfinished?
我想，此时是对父亲的忠告最严峻的考验。这次的出路在哪儿呢?我满腹狐疑，心急如焚。我确信只有两条路可走：要么取消时装表演;要么展出没有完工的时装。就在这时，我茅塞顿开：为什么不把没有做完的衣服拿出来展览呢?
We worked hurriedly. And, exactly 13 days later, right on time, the Schiaparelli showing took place.
我们紧张匆忙地工作着。正好13天后，斯基亚帕雷利的时装展览准时开幕了。
What a showing it was! Some coats had no sleeves; others had only one. Many of our clothes were still in an early stage. They were only patterns made of heavy cotton cloth. But on these we pinned sketches and pieces of material. In this way we were able to show that what colors and textures the clothes would have when they were finished.
这是一次什么样的展览呀!有些上衣没有袖子，有的只有一只袖子，许多衣服还在初缝阶段。它们只是一些用厚棉布做成的衣服试样，但在这些试样上我们别上了衣服的草图和衣料，这样我们就能告诉人们这些衣服做成之后的颜色和质地。
All in all, the showing was different. It was so different that it was a great success. Our unusual showing caught the attention of the public, and orders for the clothes poured in.
总而言之，这次服装展别开生面，它太不同凡响了，竟取得了巨大的成功。不寻常的展览吸引了公众的注意，订单源源不断。
Father's wise words had guided me once again. There is more than one way to the square always.
父亲很有见地的那番话再次指引我度过了难关。通往广场的路的确不止一条。
